New Year resolution(s) should be a New Year Revolution

We've now entered that faithful time of year where everyone is looking back at the year-that-was and tallying up how they did on their past years resolution(s). Often this can lead to depression, angst and general curmudgeonry due to falling short. Most resolutions are the same; lose weight, make more money blah blah blah.

Res·o·lu·tion - A resolve or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something.

The weight loss resolution is the most popular and most failed endeavor of them all. I'm as guilty as the next, I would love to drop some poundage. But I tend to stay completely away from New Year Resolutions in general because they never last.

I think folks tend to treat New Year Resolutions as some sort of magic genie. "If I hope really hard and wish with all my might I'll stop looking like Seth Rogan circa 1998 and start looking like Seth Rogan circa 2011." This brings to mind the quote: “Hope in one hand, crap in the other, see which one fills up first”.


I really feel like people, and I'm generalizing here, need to treat their hopes and wishes for the new year more like a revolution.

Rev·o·lu·tion - A cycle of successive events or changes.

If you're not willing to make sweeping changes you will not lose that weight, not long term at least, you won't make more money, no more than your standard yearly raise. That's why your resolution should really be that of revolution. A person has to be willing to come full circle and take a hard look in the mirror.


Side Bar – I said something to a friend recently that I feel I need to mention here to all the weight-loss resolutioners: The number on the scale is just that, a number, it doesn't reflect your value or beauty as a human being.

All that is easier said than done sometimes. We're all guilty of letting 'Life get in the way'.

My revolution is likely no different than yours; let's all try are best to stick to it shall we?

Even though I generally stay away from this, I'm going to put it on record right here and now. In 2012, I want to go to the gym more and eat less pizza. I'm not going to say I want to lose such and such amount of weight or that I wish to look like Arnold because it's just plain irresponsible. I also hope to learn more through self education. Finally, I want to continue to be as kind and compassionate as possible. If we all try, and I mean really try, it will become reality.

In closing, Life can be crappy at times, despite ones best intentions. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometime you always lose; but it's about throwing yourself out there, doing the hard yards regardless of the result just simply to gain another experience and further insight.

I wish everyone success in 2012 with your own personal Revolution!

**Maxwell**

Fear & Loathing In Max-Vegas!!!

A while back, against my better judgement, I went out gambling at the Casino here in Yorkton. Now, with that said, it wasn't 'against my better' judgement to go to the Painted Hand Casino, but rather to go out gambling. Anyone who knows me understands that, on occasion, I do place wagers with friends and will buy the odd Sport-select ticket or two, but I don't generally frequent casinos because, well, I don't have the money to lose.

 
A little back story on how the casino thing came about. Myself and roommates (including GX94s own Clayton Kroeker) were playing some casino games at the house; black-jack and North-American Pia Gow (Double hand poker). The roommates were all jacked-up and wanted to go to the Casino. I was doing my best to keep them at the house; I surely didn't want to go gamble, I have zero dollars after-all!

Pia Gow: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pai_gow_poker

Sidebar - When gambling I believe you can't be desperate; you absolutely can't need it. That's my personal opinion, there is no science (to my knowledge) that backs it up, but I find when you really need it you'll tend to bet out of desperation rather than with any sort of strategy or intelligence.

So we're playing games of chance and sipping on beverages for a few hours and it turns out I've won all the chips in the house! Yes!!! I was on a major heater!

Heater



word type: noun

- A series of events in a game of chance, all with a positive outcome for the player and occurring within a concise time frame.

Quick Examples of Heaters
 - A player picks up pocket aces and then AK on consecutive hands and gets action on both.
- A player has an upswing of luck resulting in large win-falls in a short period .
- Where if one player makes three baskets in a row in NBA Jam, he becomes "on fire" and has unlimited turbo, no goaltending, and increased shooting ability, until the other team scores (or the player has scored four consecutive baskets while "on fire")


So I was on a heater and feeling good about it. But due to Christmas shopping I literally had zero dollars; I simply wasn't going to the casino. Or so I thought. Relentlessly the roommates poked at me to tag along. I finally convince them I'm not going.  Soon after I had displayed my will-power it happened, I relented & said “I’m IN BABY!”  How did this happen you ask!?! Well, roommate 1 offered to 'spot me a few bucks'. Normally I am vehemently against taking money from roommates because it rarely ends well. But I figured if $30.00 bucks ruins our friendship then it wasn't much of a friendship to begin with.

The roommates are decked out in their fave sports jersey's so I quickly run downstairs, sprits on some cologne and slip on my favourite Jers', my vintage Winnipeg Jets 'Dale Hawerchuck' Jersey.


Fast-forward and we're at the casino, I receive my 30 bones from roommate 1. They head off to the Texas hold'em table, I make a B-line for black-jack!

Sidebar – Why is it called “making a B-line”? Making a B-Line, like walking in the shape of the letter B, doesn't seem like it'd be very efficient. The expression should be “I made a lower case L-line”. It's less punchy than “B-line” but more accurate.

So I'm at the black-jack table and I cash in with a mere twenty bucks, that's four hands at a minimum bet of 5 bucks a hand. I start off with three solid wins in a row. Fast-forward again and it's an hour later and I'm up 130.00 . Roommate one swings by and is pumped that I'm up & doing better than him. He went for broke at the Hold 'em table. I pay him back his loan of 30.00 and I'm now even-steven with him and up 100 clams. I keep playing and this big guy with a big guy attitude sits down, smacks down a hundo (100.00) and cashes in. This guy is a real jabroni and he starts betting hard, running two hands and generally trying to bully me off the table. This guy has more cash than me, cash he hasn't won BTW, but more none-the-less. So I start playing strategically. It works, I play him down to nothing and I'm up nearly 200. He slaps down another hundo and we're off to the races again. He's clearly upset, he's playing two hands and betting aggressively, but I keep on task and eventually I've played him down to nothing again and he leaves the table. That was my victory of the night.

I should have cashed out, but like every gambler I thought “I can win more” and I kept playing. Without explanation my heater ends and I lose it all over the course of ten hands. I wasn't overly upset with my loss. IMO I went out, gambled for a couple hours, had a ball and left even! Technically, I left up 30 bucks. If you recall, roommate one fronted me that 30 bucks. So I actually started the night negative 30 and ended even. A good time was had by all!

P.S. When I told my girlfriend of this tale she was wild! “Why didn't you cash-out at 200!?! WHY DIDN'T YOU CASH -OUT!

She just doesn't understand gambling. :P

-Maxwell's P.O.V.

The 99th Grey Cup - A fair and balanced review!

Wow, all the posturing and jockeying about the 99th Grey Cup in Vancouver this Sunday is without president! The so-called pundits are like a dog with a bone, They just can’t get off it! The ‘it’ that they can’t get off is the B.C. Lions and their miraculous march to the CFL's most hallowed prize. The main thing that these “journalists” don’t realize is that The Lions haven’t won ANYTHING yet. Rod Petersen came out this week with an article that attempted to strip any passive CFL fan(s) of the idea that The Bombers could win. His is the popular opinion amongst most people within the media and many outside for that matter. A few things to consider: The Bombers knocked off the defending Grey Cup Champions...MULTIPLE TIMES

Before I go any farther with this, I want to posture the opinion that the CFL 'powers-that-be' have been responsible for all this pro Lions propaganda. The CFL wants The Lions to become the first team to win the Grey Cup on home soil since B.C. beat CFL-USA expansion team Baltimore 26-23 on Lui Passaglia's last-second field goal at B.C. Place in 1994.

With the CFL fully pulling the strings of their puppets, it’s clear that The Blue Bombers of Winnipeg are underdogs on paper. But that’s all it is…it’s papers, actually, any edge B.C. boosters think the Lions have is merely an apparition. When it comes down to the numbers, the stats tell a different story.

The Break down(s)

The B.C. Lions: By The Numbers

Friday, August 19^th - B.C. 36 @ EDM 1 -- Edmonton was still seen as a dangerous team that was making a run. B.C.'s Defence clamped down hard and made Ricky Ray look flaccid whilst the offence put the peddle to the floor and never took it off. B.C.'s win in this one made everyone in the CFL take notice.

Saturday, September 17^th - B.C. 32 @ CGY 19 -- I've included this game, though some may think I shouldn't. It was a hall of fame type game for B.C. Including rookie Tim Cronk scoring his first CFL touchdown. However, it was also the game that was the beginning of the end for the Henry Burris era in Calgary. Burris looked as if he couldn't have moved a U-haul down the field, let-a-lone a football team.

Saturday, November 5^th - MTL 1 @ BC 43 -- This was an impressive win over the defending Grey Cup Champion Montreal Alouettes. With this game B.C. Claimed first place in the CFL west with the offence carving up the Als with short but rapid passes to a Wide-open receiving core and also airing out the ball a couple times. The Als D clearly left their game in Montreal.

Sunday, November 20^{th _} EDM 23 @ B.C. 40 – This game honestly looked like a speed-bag vs a punching bag. The Lions dismantled the Eskie and brick by brick Edmonton crumbled. The game was won largely on the back of Travis Lulay who threw two TD passes and had a 61-yard scoring run.


The Winnipeg Blue Bombers: By The Numbers

Thursday, July 28^th - BC 20 @ WPG 25 - At this point in the season, the B.C. Lions were without a win. The Bombers were on the field with heavy hearts due to the death of defensive line & assistant head coach Richard Harris just days earlier. Doug Brown, who was very emotional on the sidelines, was quoted as saying "We were so drained, we were so destitute coming into this game. So many guys, we had nothing more to give. We were spent ...”. Well, a “spent” Swaggerville went to work with a blue collar effort and sacked Lulay six times.

Friday, August 5^th - EDM 16 @ WPG 28 -- The Winnipeg Blue Bombers handed the Edmonton Eskimos their first loss of the season. The man with two first names Ricky Ray was the league's top-rated passer going into the game with 10 TDs against one interception. The Bombers pass rushing made Ray look foolish as he was intercepted three times alone in this game. On the flip-side, Buck Pierce threw for two touchdowns and ran a career-high 48 yards into the end zone. The win propelled the Bombers to 5-and-1 and showed Edmonton had some major holes in their armour.

Saturday, August 13^th – WPG 30 @ BC 17 – The first half of this game was a close defensive battle with neither team gaining a huge edge. However, The Bombers made some adjustments in the dressing room and came out hot scoring touchdowns; a 51 and a 54-yard drive, on their first two possession of the second half. The supreme effort improved The Blue & Gold to 6-1 for the first time since 1984 and moved two points ahead of the Montreal Alouettes in the battle for first in the East.

Sunday, September 18^th - WPG 25 @ MTL 23 – This was a game where Buck Pierce proved he's tougher than a two-dollar steak. The game can be boiled down to big plays early on and suffocatingly tight defence throughout. The Bombers reduced slotback S.J. Green's ribs to rubble and continued to roll. The Als battled back but were unable to gain traction over the Swaggerville D.

Saturday, October 22^nd - MTL 25 @ WPG 26 AC's arm, which is usually a cannon that puts opponents away, really put his own team away with his triad of interceptions, including a crucial touchdown in the fourth quarter when the Bombers were clawing back from a 25-10 deficit. The Bombers showed once again that they made of sterner stuff by turning the tables in the fourth, scoring 16 points.

Sunday, November 20th East Division Final - Ham 3 @ WPG 19 – The so-called experts were already calling for the Bombers to falter in this game, including my boss Brad Bazin. However, The Bombers came into this game as a Sportselect favourite, just barely edging Hamilton, according to odds makers. The game was anything but close as The Big Blue put the team on the back of 5'9 rookie running-back Chris Garrett in the face of the blistering cold. Garrett, who's had a standout year, rushed for some 190 odd yards and looked like a beast despite the minus 22 degrees. Garrett was surely the superstar, but he was quick to point out he didn't do it alone “My hat goes off to my offensive linemen. They did a tremendous job opening up holes. The receivers did their job catching the passes upfield. It was an all-out effort by all of us”.

  ------

Now, I hope now that you've seen all the facts that have been laid-out that even the most passive or uninformed CFL fan can see that 'all that glitters ain't gold' and the B.C. Lions are receiving much smoke blowing up their backsides. I'm not trying to turn the tables on the Leos, The Bombers aren't a Juggernaut going into the Grey Cup, But I would hope people will draw the conclusion that these two teams are in for a much closer match-up than they've been lead to believe.  Bob “Knuckles” Irving put it best and really summed up my breakdown when he said “The Blue Bomber defensive co-ordinator Tim Burke has confused and confounded Anthony Calvillo, Kevin Glenn and Travis Lulay with his schemes this season.” And “ Nobody should sell the Bombers short on resolve. They came back to win a number of their games early in the season when they ran out to a 7-1 start...they've shown a tremendous aptitude for not giving up.”" Moreover, in games where they fell behind and lost, they actually clawed back to a point where they had a reasonable chance to win."   This game will undoubtedly be a test for BOTH teams.

Now, lets pump the breaks there turbo!  Before you fire off about my bias, I am an accused and admitted Bomber fan, I wear the Blue & Gold with pride, it's no secret. But I feel I have done a fair and methodical breakdown of the season and painted a far more accurate picture than the “experts”.

When all is said and done it all boils down to this:

You may coo at this, you all may join the jabroni's in the media who've already planned the parade in Vancouver...go ahead!  Just don't poop your pants when the Bombers D stands tall and and the One-Two punch of Pierce & Brink surge past B.C.